This is the story of a young man who just manages to get by clerking at a Quik Stop who sees his first stirrings of ambition for a brighter future dashed by his unjust dismissal. Now virtually homeless and blackballed, he lashes out in an alcohol and drug-fueled rage and sets a fatal forest fire on the north coast of California. The remainder of the story depicts his unrelenting guilt and need to atone set against his fear of the hard-core, real-world consequences of this impulsive, life destroying act.